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NFTs enter the fashion industry with tribute collection for late designer Alber Elbaz

By Olivia Atkins, Branded Content Writer

October 8, 2021 | 4 min read

Perhaps the rise of the non-fungible token (NFT) should come as no surprise; it has conquered the minds of crypto-collectors and art-lovers, and is now soon to bestow its presence among fashionistas.

AZ Factory and SharpEnd collaborate to immortalise the vision of the late designer through NFT-connected t-shirts.

AZ Factory and SharpEnd collaborate to immortalize the vision of the late designer through NFT-connected T-shirts

Following the close of Paris Fashion Week earlier this week, fashion studio AZ Factory created a series of limited-edition organic cotton T-shirts to commemorate late founder and designer – and former creative director of Lanvin – Alber Elbaz, who passed away in April of this year.

The fashion industry bade farewell to the designer on Tuesday night to mark the end of Paris Fashion Week with an iconic send-off and closing tribute runway show, marking Elbaz’s influence on the fashion industry.

Attended by many in the fashion world, the show presented by AZ Factory was titled Love Brings Love and took place at the monumental Paris tourist office building Carreau du Temple.

Some 45 fashion houses and their designers contributed a number of designs in Elbaz’s honor to celebrate his vision with a homage collection to forever immortalize his legacy and confirm that the brand will and can continue without him.

The collaboration between AZ Factory and SharpEnd to release the range of T-shirts with a unique NFT attached reflects Elbaz’s experimental nature and fearlessness at trying out new things.

Laurent Malecaze, AZ Factory’s chief executive officer, said: “Alber was at the forefront of bringing technology into fashion, so it seems only fitting to showcase the newest technologies in the market as part of one of our tribute designs in his honor.”

There are five styles available within the collection, each designed with a quote from the late designer and his signature embroidered with a grosgrain ribbon set against one of his hand-drawn prints.

The T-shirts also link to their own NFT of an original Alber Elbaz drawing, although there is a limited number of NFTs produced for each shirt. The NFT drawings contain an original identification number to verify and track its ownership, guaranteeing exclusive possession of the digital asset.

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The NFT can be accessed by tapping the garment label with a smartphone, which will guide the user to the Alber & Amigo’s Membership Platform – a digital experience and ongoing collaboration with Sharpend – where they can log in to their profile to redeem the NFT.

Cameron Worth, chief executive at SharpEnd, added: “It’s a continuous pleasure to partner with AZ Factory and inspire the luxury space, and I genuinely feel that this approach to NFTs finally provides a relevant use case for the technology in a way that is befitting of Alber’s legacy as a true pioneer.”

A select range of Alber Elbaz NFT T-shirts will be available in-store at The Drum’s newly-launched tech space CornerShop as of mid-October, so do visit to see the line in-person.

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